Bio: Angela China, 40, New York.
Title of work: Pink Sky
Where to see it: Half Gallery (located at 235 E 4th St. in New York) until November 11th, 2026.
Three words to describe this work: Androgynous, seductive, and complex.
What was on your mind at the time: Painting is a process that rarely follows a straight line. I usually start with complete confidence, but somewhere along the line I’ll hit a wall where the piece feels like it’s struggling. This painting was no exception. What saved it was taking a step back. While letting the main canvas breathe, I revisited a smaller study I’d set aside earlier. Looking at the small painting with fresh eyes, I noticed an element that completely shifted the direction of the large piece. Of course, scaling an idea up is never a simple copy and paste. What works on a small scale doesn’t usually work large and requires major finessing. In the end, the two pieces only share a color palette, but without that spark from the small painting, Pink Sky wouldn’t exist.
An interesting feature that’s not immediately noticeable: What I love about Pink Sky and I think is not immediately noticeable is that the colors are very weird and unexpected. They almost completely violate any traditional color theory. Yet somehow it all comes together and they just work together in the most surprising way.
How the work reflects your practice as a whole: Pink Sky was one of the first paintings in which I began looking to another painting as a point of departure, a small work that could serve as a kind of visual compass as I worked through the larger piece. Until then, my process had been largely intuitive. I would begin without a plan and allow the painting to dictate its own direction. What began as a way to find my way through this particular painting has since become an essential part of my practice. I now often work with a smaller painting beside me as a general layout. I may take great departures but I constantly revisit it. This painting was difficult for me, but that difficulty ultimately became productive. In many ways, it marked a turning point in my process that has continued to unfold through all the paintings that came after.
One song that captures the work’s essence: “Freak” by Lana Del Rey.
